Women for Leadership Positions

Subject: EmployeesCountry: SpainCategory: Project

The top female managers of Bertelsmann companies in Spain agree: it takes a network and targeted promotion to get more women into leadership positions. Therefore, Núria Cabutí, CEO Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, Daniela Bosé, Managing Director of BMG Spain and Portugal, and Maria Wandosell, Delegate Councelor of Motorpress Ibérica, have committed themselves to the Spanish "Womantalent" network. Along with many other women in top positions, they find themselves in the "Guía para el Avance de la Mujer Profesional", a guide for the promotion of working women. In the publication, "Womantalent" compiles 50 interviews with top female managers from all of Spain’s regions and wants to lend a voice to all working women with this public forum.

“A scarcity of role models and mentors”

Núria Cabutí, CEO Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, states in the guide: "The difficulty of balancing all of the requirements, the scarcity of role models and mentors, and the low self-esteem of women paired with prejudice towards them are some of the biggest barriers." Maria Wandosell, however, is certain: "Women have always managed to turn big obstacles into big opportunities and to stay on a course of success."

BMG manager Daniela Bosé also participated in a discussion round during the presentation of the guide last week at the Espacio Bertelsmann in Madrid, which Bertelsmann supported as a sponsor. In the debate about the difficulties of working women, Bosé said: "At Bertelsmann Spain women are in the majority, and a woman is at the top of almost all of our businesses in Spain." The reason, according to Bosé, is the professional standards these women represent and the fact that gender diversity is a fundamental value for Bertelsmann.